. >> this comes hours after a new nbc and wall street journal poll shows mitt romney posting gains in some key swing states including virginia, which is where he has taken a lead. andrew spencer has a preview. >> the showdown between vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan takes place at centre college in danville, kentucky tonight. debate preparations for romney -- for ryan have included a mock debates all across the country and he spent a day and a half preparing in st. petersburg, florida. >> are you ready? >> i am. >> he described what he is up against in an interview with cnn. >> joe biden has been doing this a long time. he ran for president twice and he's been on a big stage many times before so that's new for me. i'm doing my homework and studying the issues. the problem he has is he has barack obama's record than he has to run on. >> joe biden offer to this last week in iowa. >> i'm looking forward to it. what i have been doing mostly is studying up on his position on the issues. governor romneyand governor romney. i don't want to say anything in the debates that's